Vince Neil life and biography

Vincent Neil Wharton is an American vocalist and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Motley Crue.

Neil was discovered while performing with his band Rock Candy in 1980, and joined Mötley Crüe in 1981. Neil had been friends with Tommy Lee in high school. Mötley Crüe was looking for a lead vocalist at the time and were impressed by Neil after hearing him through Lee. Mötley Crüe released its first album, Too Fast for Love, the same year. In 1983, Mötley Crüe released Shout at the Devil, which established the band as a big act in rock and roll.
In 1985, Neil regrouped with Mötley Crüe to record Theatre of Pain. In 1987, the band recorded the album Girls, Girls, Girls. In 1989, the band released their highest-selling album, Dr. Feelgood.

In February 1992, Mötley Crüe parted ways with Vince Neil. Neil had taken up Indy racing a few years earlier, often turning up at celebrity races. Neil enjoyed the sport so much that he eventually formed Vince Neil Racing. He was racing in the Indy Lights open wheel developmental series at the time. Neil retired from racing in 1992 after crashing his car during a race in Long Beach after the third lap.
Neil signed a solo deal with Warner Brothers for $4 million. He received a $2 million advance on his first record.

Neil sued Motley Crue for 25% of their future profits and $5 million in damages for being fired.In 1992, Neil released his first single. He stated that the song was written in twenty minutes with his friends Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw. The single "You're Invited (But Your Friend Can't Come)" was featured on the Encino Man soundtrack. Neil made a video for the song that featured a cameo by Pauly Shore. The video does not feature guitarist Steve Stevens as Stevens was hired after the song and video had been released. Stevens re-recorded the song for Neil's first solo album. Neil performed the song live on the MTV Movie Awards.

Exposed, was Neil's first solo album and was released in 1993. The album debuted at #13 on the Billboard charts. The album featured Stevens, who subsequently played all bass and guitar tracks on "Exposed", Dave Marshall, Robbie Crane, and Vik Foxx. The band eventually went on tour, opening for Van Halen.

In September 1995, Neil released Carved in Stone, an industrial-oriented album produced by the Dust Brothers. The album was recorded and was put on hold while Neil was dealing with the illness of his daughter Skylar. It sold fewer than 100,000 copies in the US, and Neil's contract with Warner Bros. Records eventually came to an end. The album was re-released in 2004.

By 1997, both Neil's solo career and Mötley Crüe's fortunes were declining and he accepted their invitation to rejoin the band. They released the album Generation Swine which debuted at #4 on the Billboard charts. It wasn't long before tension erupted again, this time prompting Tommy Lee to leave the band. They replaced him with Randy Castillo, who later on recorded New Tattoo with the band in 2000, but things came to a halt when Castillo died from cancer in 2002.

Vince Neil has toured his solo band, which consisted of Slaughter members Jeff Blando and Dana Strum, as well as drummer Zoltan Chaney.
Vince released his third solo album Tattoos & Tequila in 2010. It is Neil's first solo release in 7 years since the live album Live at the Whisky: One Night Only in 2003 and the first solo studio album in 15 years. The album is a soundtrack to the book Vince released in the same year "Tattoos & Tequila: To Hell and Back with One of Rock's Most Notorious Frontmen". Each song on the album corresponds with a chapter in the book.
Neil opened Dr. Feelgood's Bar and Grill in West Palm Beach. It took over two and a half years for all of the members of Mötley Crüe to agree and sign off on the bar concept and location. It was finally determined that it would be located in downtown West Palm Beach, a stone's throw away from the ocean and within the high rent district of downtown. On January 19, 2008, Neil played a free concert on the streets of downtown West Palm Beach to celebrate the grand opening of Dr Feelgood's. In March 2009, Neil opened another Feelgood's in Miami Beach. Vince also owns a Feelgood's in Las Vegas.

Mötley Crüe were on tour in the U.S. Crue Fest. Mötley Crüe announced that they will play the entire Dr. Feelgood album every night of Crüe Fest 2 to celebrate the album's 20th anniversary.

In 1990, Neil had a small part in the film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane playing the character of Bobby Black, lead vocalist of the fictional rock band that consisted of Carlos Cavazo, Randy Castillo, and Phil Soussan. Opening sequences of the film featured the band playing at Red Rocks Amphitheater, where Neil's character makes a grand entrance by swooping on stage via zip-line. He then proceeds to die onstage under suspicious circumstances.
In 2002, Neil was one of the cast members on the first season of The Surreal Life. In 2004, Neil appeared on the special Remaking Vince Neil, which showed him trying to recharge his solo career. He also recorded the single "Promise Me" produced by Desmond Child. The song was for sale on iTunes for a brief period of time, but a solo album never surfaced.

Mötley Crüe's fortunes got a boost when Neil and Tommy Lee put aside their differences and toured in support of the compilation album Red, White and Crüe. The tour. dubbed Carnival of Sins. featured acrobats, fire breathers and a midget as part of the overall circus atmosphere the band created.

In 2009, Neil worked on a pilot for an A&E reality-TV show. According to Neil, the program would follow the singer and his family after his parents moved in with him. Neil told Eddie Trunk of the "Friday Night Rocks" radio show, "My wife hasn't talked to my mom since the wedding," which took place January 9, 2005, in Las Vegas.
In 2010, he was cast on ABC's Skating with the Stars as a celebrity contestant who skated with professional ice skater Jennifer Wester.

Neil married his first wife, Beth Lynn, in 1981; they divorced in 1985. In April 1987, Neil married Sharise Ruddell, a mud wrestler and fashion model. The couple had one daughter, Skylar, before divorcing in 1993.

In early 1993, he began dating actress and Playboy Playmate Heidi Mark after a blind date arranged by her makeup artist. The two were engaged within two months, and married in 2000. After just 15 months of marriage, and several attempts at reconciliation, they divorced in 2001.
Neil married his fourth wife, Lia Gerardini, in January 2005. The ceremony was officiated by MC Hammer, an ordained minister and fellow cast member on The Surreal Life. In 2010, Neil announced their separation.
On August 15, 1995, Neil and Ruddell's daughter, Skylar Neil, died of cancer at the age of 4.He founded the Skylar Neil Memorial Fund in her honor. Since that time, Neil and the foundation have raised awareness and funding for various children’s illnesses. The Skylar Neil Memorial Foundation has donated millions of dollars to The T.J. Martell Foundation, and it sponsors an annual golf tournament to raise money for children with cancer.

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